


His world

by evership



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Angst, Aomine is an ass, Child Abuse, Gen, Kagami is part tiger, Kagami just wants to be loved, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-24
Updated: 2013-11-09
Packaged: 2017-12-06 09:20:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/734065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evership/pseuds/evership
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU, Aomine's parents bought him a humanoid tiger cub before they left. Aomine doesn't want it. He hates it. Luckily it'll grow fast. </p><p>Taiga is clueless about Aomine's hatred for him. He just wants to be loved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. NumberTigers

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke.

Aomine rummaged through his closet for the fifth time that day. He had already turned his room upside-down in search for his favorite white tank-top, but he couldn’t find it. He contemplated asking his mom but he was still kind of pissed at her.

He tch’d and draped himself across his bed.  A month ago his mom and dad had sat him down at the kitchen table and talked about their work. Or rather, their _lack_ of work. His dad had gotten laid off and his mom’s boss had told her that they were going to outsource their business to the US. They would be forced to let her go if she couldn’t agree to spend five years on the other side of the world.

“ _You’re not gonna do it, right? You can’t leave me and dad here all alone!_ ” Aomine had half-shouted, voice full of concern. His mom and dad shared a look before gently telling him that his mom had managed to secure a position at the company for his dad, which was _wonderful_  considering how hard it was to get a job nowadays, and that his dad would be going with her to America.

Aomine threw an arm over his eyes. They didn’t want him to give up his life in Japan and leave all his friends behind. He was old enough to live on his own and they assured him that he would be able to continue living in their house. The only difference would be that he’d be living alone for the next five years. He didn’t know why he’d made such a big deal out of it; it wasn’t like he cared _that_ much. He’d get a monthly allowance to cover food and other expenses and his parents would take care of all the stuff that he didn’t know how to do, like paying bills and such.

He grabbed his phone and was about to send a text asking if Tetsu wanted to come over, but voices from downstairs made him pause.

Was that his mother _cooing_ at something? He sat up and gave the door a frown. His mother was definitely talking to someone and … was his dad _cooing_ to? _What the hell?_ He heard a third voice he didn’t recognize, but that voice sounded like a grown man. Should he go and check it out? He widened his eyes. Had they gotten a pet for him? He hoped not. Was that what all the cooing was about? Fuck, he didn’t want some damn dog or cat!

He heard a door slam and soon after a car that drove away. He strained his hearing and listened for any barks or meows.

It was quiet.

He yawned after a minute and made for the door to ask his mom if she’d thrown away his tank-top, but just when he was about to grab the door-handle a laugh made him freeze.

That had been a _kid’s_ laugh. He was even more confused now. Wait, had his dad been cheating on his mom and gotten some chick pregnant? Were they going away to America not to work, but to try and salvage their marriage? Did he have a little sibling now?

He gulped, but immediately rolled his eyes afterward. Where the hell had _those_ thoughts come from? 

“I’m paranoid.” He muttered. “Why the hell am I paranoid?” He opened the door and stepped outside.

He made his way down the creaking stairs and found his dad in the living room surrounded by toys. Aomine raised an eyebrow.

Holy fuck, his dad _had_ been cheating! He spun around only to come face to face with his mother. She was beaming and Aomine thought that she looked way too happy for someone that had been cheated on.

He lowered his eyes and saw the thing in her arms. He made an undignified sound in his throat.

“What – what the _hell_ is that?!”  He almost shrieked. _Almost_. “And – and why – why is it wearing … Is that my tank-top? What’s going on here?”

His mother carefully lifted up the human-looking creature and gently placed it in Aomine’s arms. Aoimne, in turn, was too shocked to do anything else but to take hold it.

The creature, which might’ve been a bit unfair to call it, looked like a normal human child – if you ignored the slightly fluffy, red tail and the extra pair of red ears on top of its head. And, since it was a tiger, black stripes adorned his animal parts. The tiger’s red eyes regarded Aomine with curiosity.  

“It’s a 10Tiger,” his mother explained. “It’s a –“

“I know what it is.” Aomine interrupted and forcefully pushed the child back into his mother’s arms. A 10Tiger was a genetically modified human with 10% of tiger-DNA in their genes. A 5Tiger had 5% tiger-DNA and a 40Tiger had 40% tiger-DNA. A 99Tiger was basically a very intelligent tiger and a 1Tiger was a human with very strong instincts. These _numberTigers_ weren’t unusual, but they weren’t exactly common, either. Aomine hadn’t seen anyone in their neighborhood.

The tiger cub laughed and stretched out his arms to Aomine. Aomine ignored him.

“I wanted him to be a surprise.” His mother began, “Your father and I talked about it, and a 10Tiger would be perfect for you! We don’t want you to be lonely when we go away, and – “

“And you thought getting me a – a _tiger_ would make me feel less lonely? Take him back, I don’t want it!”

His mother furrowed her eyebrows and gave him a smile that looked to be a mix between disappointment and sympathy. The tiger still looked happy and hopeful and kept stretching his arms out to Aomine while simultaneously sniffing the air.

“He’s … He’s already imprinted on you. The breeding program requests that you provide an article of clothing – unwashed – so that the chosen pet will grow accustomed to your scent and to strengthen the bond between owner and pet.”  

“Wait, _breeding program?_ You told me _last month_ that you guys were going to America! How long have you been planning _this?_ ” He had only meant to wave his hand in the general direction of the tiger cub, but misjudged the distance and hit him hard in the face instead. Aomine pulled back his hand as if bitten and his mother gasped. The tiger cub froze for a second before covering his nose and mouth with his hands. A pained whimper left his mouth.

“Taiga? Taiga, you have to let me see your face. Come on, little one, let me see … “ His mother tried to remove Taiga’s hands from his face as gentle as possible.

They came away bloody. Aomine stared in horror. _He’d just hit a kid._

His father rose from the floor and in his hand he held a thin book.

“It says here that 10Tigers are fast healers and that nothing short of bone fractures or head damages needs medical attention. Here,” he said and handed the small manual to his son. “You should probably read this. It’s all about caretaking and feeding and other stuff you need to know.”

Aomine gave an exasperated sigh and growled:

“You’re gonna make me keep it anyway? I said I don’t want it! Just … take it back!”

“I know you don’t mean that, Daiki – “ Aomine wanted to throw something “– but I’m sure that if you’ll only spend some time with him you’ll come to love him!” She didn’t look at her son when she said it, but kept her attention on the little tiger. She put him on the kitchen table and used some paper towels to wipe the blood away. Luckily the bleeding had stopped and she didn’t think his nose was broken. “Fast healers, you say?” She mumbled, mostly to herself.

“That’s what the book says.” His father replied and walked up to stand behind his wife. He looked at the cub over her shoulder. “Maybe we should take him with us to the US? He’s cute.” Taiga looked at him and stretched up his arms for the third time that day. Just when Aomine’s father was about to pick him up, the tiger frowned and sniffed the air again. He turned his little head and flexed his ears.

Aomine took a step back when the big red eyes landed on him. Crap. He should just walk away and let his parents handle this. It was a nice gesture of them, but he’d sort of looked forward to spending the next 5 years by himself. He could love by his own rules and eat whatever he wanted and stay out late without worrying about some annoying curfew. He had also entertained the idea of inviting the guys to his house. He couldn’t live that carefree life if he had a damn kid on his hands!

He got angry.

“Either you take him back or – or I’ll have him put down once you’ve left  –“ He had just about finished the sentence when his mother, with fury burning in her eyes, back-handed him. It didn’t really hurt and Aomine guessed it was more for show if anything. Still, he put a hand on his barely stinging cheek and stared at her with shock clearly visible in his eyes.

“You will do no such thing!” She said sharply. Taiga flinched on the table before her and tried to cover all four ears.  “I’ve put a lot of money – we _both_ did,” She gestured wildly at his father “ – into this project, just to make sure that you won’t feel lonely when we go away, and I’ll be damned if you’re going to throw all that away!” Aomine wanted to say that they should’ve asked him first _before_ doing something extreme like this, but he was too furious about the slap. He could do whatever the hell he wanted with that pet once his parents were on that plane.

“If you kill him I’ll – I will –!” His father placed a hand on her shoulder. She was absolutely seething. Aomine thought it was a bit funny, but if he laughed she’d probably disown him or some shit.

“Your mother is right, Daiki. We have spent a significant amount of money on this little fellow and … and we had to take out a loan to afford it.” It wasn’t true, but Aomine didn’t know that. Instead, the blue-haired boy blanched and stuttered a few times before settling on a frown.

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll keep it. All feed it and I’ll care for it, but you can’t force me to love it.” He glanced at his mom. She didn’t exactly look happy. _Che’, take it or leave it_ , he thought bitterly.

Taiga had been quiet during their argument. He didn’t understand why the air seemed to prickle with anger and fear and it made him want to crawl back inside the soft fabric he was wearing. It smelled like home and he felt safe whenever he took a whiff of it. He looked at the person who had the same smell and smiled brightly.

Aomine made a face and walked away. His parents would leave tomorrow morning and he’d be free from them.  He couldn’t wait. He pulled up his phone from his pocket and texted Tetsu.

Taiga furrowed his eyebrows when the person left. He made a sound in his throat akin to a whine, but slowly let the sound fade when the person didn’t return. Hands grabbed him and gently placed him on the floor. The person with the long hair and the soft voice said something and ruffled his hair. Taiga didn’t understand the words yet, but he got that they were words of kindness. He grinned again before crawling over to all the toys on the floor.

Aomine slammed his door shut and threw himself on the bed. This was fucking ridiculous. If they thought he was going to be lonely then they could’ve just bought him a subscription to a porn site! Then he’d _want_ to be left alone! Fuck it all to hell!

His phone pinged and he growled in frustration when he read that Tetsu was busy. _Well, fuck you,_ he thought darkly. He didn’t really feel like spending time with Kise or Midorima. Akashi was such a bore and Murasikibara was away with his family over the weekend.

He scratched his head and glanced at the 10Tiger manual. He didn’t have anything better to do. He grabbed the book, flopped on his back, and started to read.

“ _10Tigers grow up fast, so be sure to read all about them before deciding if a 10Tiger is the pet for you_! Huh, maybe it’ll die of old age before my parents return,” Aomine mumbled hopefully. “ _One month is one year for a 10Tiger, but once the 10Tiger reaches their 16 th month they’ll age like any other normal person.” _Aomine scowled _._ What did _that_ mean? “ _A 10Tiger differs from most numberTigers; they grow fast and they are quick learners. Once they’ve reached their 16 th month they are required to start high school like any other normal person. _Come again? _School?_  I’m _not_ going to school with that thing!” Did his parents know about this? He hoped they didn’t! Maybe he could convince them to return it. He turned the page and continued reading out loud.

“ _A 10Tiger demands lots of love_ – blah, blah – _they are loyal, they need nutritious food_ , yadda, yadda, _they need to sleep a lot when they are young_. It’s just like caring for a dog, then? This is a waste of time.” He rolled over on his stomach and breathed through his pillow before running out of air. He gasped for fresh oxygen and turned the page.

“ _10Tigers purr when they are happy. Should your 10Tiger not purr for an extended amount of weeks then your 10Tiger might feel unhappy or displeased. It is important that you find out why your 10Tiger no longer purrs._ Blah, blah, more about behavior. _10Tigers are capable of learning several languages, just like you and me, and it is important that you teach your 10Tiger your preferred language while they still are young._ That’s … That’s gonna be creepy.“ He mused. Did that mean he had to teach the thing how to talk? Was this karma punishing him for something? He groaned and buried his head in his arms. His parent had made him a – a – a _dad_ at the tender age of 14! He rolled onto his back – but forgot that his bed wasn’t that wide –and promptly fell to the floor. He cursed and threw the book across the room. Its sharp spine lodged itself into the wall.

Aomine stared at the wall in disbelief. Seriously? He got up and tore the book from the wall and considered throwing the thing away in the trashcan, but thought better of it. He _might_ need the manual in the future. He’d also have to show his parent the school-thing.

“ _10Tigers have very strong instincts compared to other numberTigers, so be sure to keep them on a tight leash when you take them outside!_ ” He winced. Wouldn’t that make him look like a pervert? He’d be dragging a human look-a-like around on a chain; people would point and stare at him!

His face was heating up. He’d … He’d just make the tiger and _indoor_ tiger. Problem solved.

“ _Your 10Tiger needs lots of exorcise, so be sure to let them stretch their legs at least three times a day!”_ Aomine scowled harder than before. Was this book reading his mind? So, he’d have to walk the damned thing every day? He had school! His parents hadn’t thought this through!

“ _10Tigers are short creatures and grow between 130 and 150 centimeters. Taller and shorter tigers have been recorded._ At least he’ll be easy to handle!“ His mother called something from downstairs, but Aomine ignored her. He read a section about safety and felt a bit uneasy.

“ _10Tigers_ ,” he began. “ _Have strong jaws and fangs. Be sure to never corner a 10Tiger that you do not know. They will develop sharp claws in their 17 th month and it is recommended that you have a skilled veterinarian remove them – for your own safety. _That doesn’t feel reassuring ... _10Tigers are capable of roaring, growling, hissing, snarling and other sounds they use when they are angry or emotional. Most of the time these sounds are more growl than bite, but one should not carelessly handle an angry 10Tiger._ ” 

A loud banging on the door made him yelp. “W–what the fuck do you want?” He shouted. His heart was hammering like crazy in his chest.

“ _Daiki, there has been, well, could you open the door?_ ” His mother asked from the other side.

“Just tell me what you want!” he mumbled, but got up and opened the door anyway. His mother was wringing her hands and looking a bit apologetic.

“It seems that your father and I will have to leave a bit earlier than we first thought. My boss called and said that we are to leave this afternoon and that our tickets for tomorrow already have been cancelled. I’m sorry; I wanted to spend this last day with you, but we have to leave in an hour if we want to catch our plane.”

Aomine felt a bit of his anger melt away. Sure, he was still mad, but he probably wouldn’t see his parent for 5 whole years. “Will you come home for the holidays? What about my birthday?” he asked quietly. His mother stepped forward and pulled him into a hug.

“I don’t know yet, but we’ll try. I promise.”

Everything was just a blur after that. His parents ran around the house packing and shouting at each other and screaming about time and idiot bosses. It was amusing, yet sad. He’d be 19 by the time they’d return.

They hugged and kissed and hugged some more and his mother cried and his father sniffled. It wasn’t until his mother and father stepped outside that the tears started flowing from Aomines eyes. They waved and he stood and watched their car until he no longer could see it. He took a shaky breath and closed the door.

He almost tripped over the tiger. He’d forgotten about it for half a second. He cursed.

“I don’t like you.” He said to it. Taiga only grinned and flicked the tip of his tail happily. He stretched his arms up and _purred._ The blue-haired boy widened his eyes. The cub sounded just like a cat, but more … childlike, he guessed.

He glared at the tiger and pushed him out of the way with a foot. Taiga’s purr hitched – like he was about to stop – but it came back with full force instead. He showed his tiny sharp fangs in a cheeky smile, Aomine returned the gesture by lifting his upper lip and walking away with long strides.

Taiga crawled after him. 


	2. Discipline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aomine decides to discipline Taiga.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains child abuse!

Aomine glared down at the creature slowly making its way over to him. Taiga’s crawl was a bit wobbly and his tail swished awkwardly behind him, as if he didn’t have complete control over it yet. The blue-haired boy gave the little tiger a look, snorted, and pulled out a pan and filled it up with water. He placed it on the stove and contemplated whether he should make shrimp flavored ramen or make regular ramen and add real shrimps. _Decisions, decisions …_

He felt something grab hold of the fabric of his pants. Taiga had finally reached him and was looking up at him expectantly.

Aomine pulled down his eyebrows in an angry frown and shook him off.  

“Your food’s over there,” he muttered and pointed at a bowl on the floor. Taiga kept looking at him.

“Stop it! I’ll throw you down in the basement if you continue!” Of course, Taiga couldn’t understand him yet; he was only a month old. He grabbed hold with his little hand again and pulled at the leg. Aomine used a bit more force to shake him off.  Taiga laughed each time the boy pushed him away.

Next to Aomine the water boiled.

Taiga thought it was a game. It was fun when the tall person with the welcoming scent made him tumble around on the floor. The tiger let his laughter ring out and he purred loudly to show his enjoyment. He heard words being said, but had no idea of their meaning. The person he loved instinctually was paying attention to him and he was _so happy._

Gradually Taiga felt the shoves becoming more violent and forceful. A foot connected painfully with his head and he stopped purring. That had hurt, _a lot_. He looked up at the person with confused worry in his eyes. He was met with a hard stare.

The air prickled with anger again. Taiga carefully let out a soft whine to show the tall person that he was harmless. His tail stopped moving and curled around him in an attempt to make himself appear smaller and less of a threat.

The bluenette raised an eyebrow.

“What? Finally get that I don’t like you? Or are you just _that_ stupid? I thought you 10Tigers were supposed to be intelligent and quick learners!” The tiger kept doing that weird noise in his throat and giving him this strange look. Aomine was about to kick the pest again, but a thought about discipline crossed his mind.

You were supposed to punish animals that refused to obey, right? He looked at the boiling pan of water, then down at Taiga. An idea formed in his head.  

Aomine bent down and grabbed the thing by the scruff of its neck and lifted him off the floor. Taiga yelped and winced in pain. Instincts were screaming at him that this was not the way to be held. There was an uncomfortable pressure building behind his eyes and all his limbs felt as if they’ve been pulled taut. He lifted his short arms and tried to claw at the large hand by his neck, but the person shook him and Taiga stilled his struggles. Tears prickled his eyes. He was confused beyond words; he hadn’t done anything wrong … Had he?

Aomine rolled his eyes hard when the creature began to sob.  He _so_ didn’t have the patience for this.

“Scared?” He asked. “I haven’t even done anything to you yet! Shit, you’re _such_ a wuss. But fine, _whatever_. This is a perfect opportunity to make you shut up.” Aomine placed the tiger on the kitchen counter and turned back to the hot water. He took the pan and placed it next to the tiger.

Taiga sniffled and raised his arms when Aomine stood before him. He wanted to be comforted in the person’s arms – the right way, and not held by his neck – and he–he _needed_ to bury his head in that shoulder and breathe in the scent of safety, family, and _home_. He cried harder when the person did nothing except stare at him. Taigas tiny fingers gripped the air and would now and then use a hand to wipe the moisture from his cheeks.

Aomine sighed and pushed Taiga’s back against the wall.

He propped his elbows on the counter and rested his head in his hand. “This is what we’re going to do,” He began and pointed a finger at the creature’s tail. “Every time I tell you to stop with whatever annoying shit it is you’re doing – and you _don’t_ stop – I’ll put your tail in this hot water, okay?” The boy gripped Taiga’s tail and the tiger looked between Aomine and the extension of his spine. “If you _do_ stop, however, I _won’t_ boil your tail when you’re still alive. If I ask you to _do_ something, and you _don’t_ do it, I’ll boil your tail again. If you _do_ what I say, then I _won’t_ punish you. You understand?” The bluenette pulled at the long body part and Taiga quickly reached out his hand to try and stop him. His tail was sensitive and it hurt whenever someone pulled at it carelessly. His ears flattened in fear and he whined softly again.

Aomine mistook the creature’s flattened ears for anger and got angry himself.

“Stop that,” he growled low in his throat and yanked hard at the tail. Taiga cried out and a barely audible hiss escaped him. For a moment they both looked startled; Taiga – because he’d never done it before and he wracked his brain trying to understand what it meant, and Aomine – because the little shit just had bared its fangs at him.  

The bluenette thought back on the page on safety in the hand-book. _More growl than bite._ But still, shouldn’t unwanted behavior like that be trained away? He gripped the tail harder and held it over the almost boiling water.

“Listen here, you little weird-ass freak of a human, _this_ is for hissing at me!” Aomine plunged the tip of the red tail in the water.

At first, Taiga didn’t understand; he _liked_ water, he remembered bathing before coming to this place, but then it started to _burn_ and _hurt_.

_Badly._

He shrieked and launched himself at the pan to try and pull out his hurting tail. Aomine quickly pushed him down with his other hand and winced at the loud noise the animal was making.

“Shut up!” He screamed back. “This is _your_ punishment! This is _your_ fault, _not_ mine!” He dipped the flailing tail deeper in the water.

Taiga cried harder and harder and kept trying to get away. It hurt so much and it made it hard to think. Blinding white-hot pain shot through his body and head and momentarily blinded him. Instincts were screaming at him to get away from there, to run back into the arms of that welcoming smell. But, the smell was already around him. Instinct clashed with other instincts and his emotions were in turmoil.

Taiga realized, with confusion, that it was the person he _loved_ that inflicted this on him. That couldn’t be right. He must’ve mixed up the smells somewhere along the way of coming here. It was someone else doing this to him, and the scent of safety just happened to be near, that was all. He’d be rescued soon, he’d be rescued and the pain would go away and the person he loved would cradle him in their embrace and pet his head and _love him._

Aomine pulled out the tail and cursed softly when he caught sight of reddish water. He’d left it in for too long and now the thing was wounded. He dropped the extended spine on the counter and it landed with a wet _shlopp_.

“It’s your own fault.” He reminded the tiger again. “Hiss at me again, you little fuck, and I’ll do something that’ll hurt even more. Shit, stop with the pathetic crying already, you’re hurting my ears with that shrill sound!”

Taiga tried to swallow his cries as he carefully cradled his hurting tail. It was bleeding and instincts told him to clean it.

Aomine took a look at the thing before grabbing hold of its neck and placing it on the floor. He muttered under his breath about idiotic parents and stupid tigers as he poured the bloody water down the sink and wiped a dishrag across the counter to remove the spilled liquid.

A yelp had him look to the floor where Taiga was trying to clean his tail with his tongue. Each time the tiger licked at the wound he’d wince and stop, like he couldn’t understand why it hurt, before doing it all over again. Aomine thought it looked hilarious and he pulled out his phone and started filming. Taiga kept licking and wincing.

“Just stop if it hurts, you idiot.” He chuckled. The tiger didn’t listen to him. The bluenette turned off the camera when the scene before him got boring.

His stomach growled.

He’d forgotten about dinner.  

Aomine pulled out another pan and boiled water again before adding the instant ramen. He looked down at the tiger and frowned for the umpteenth time that day.

“Stop licking, you’re only making it worse.” Taiga stopped what he was doing and gave him another unreadable look before going back to cleaning. Aomine pushed him with a toe.

“Oi, you’re gonna make a bloody mess on the floor if you keep doing that!”

Aomine looked on in horrified fascination as the corners of Taiga’s mouth slowly colored red with blood.

“That’s just nasty.” The blue-haired boy added and crouched down in front of the 10Tiger. Little tufts of hair came lose with each lick and Aomine almost gagged when he realized that Taiga was _swallowing_ the fur.

Just like a cat.

“Don’t tell me you’re gonna cough up hair-ball later on … If you do I’ll force you to eat it again, cause I am not cleaning up after _you_.” He rose again and poured the ramen in a bowl before moving into the living room. He turned on the TV and went back for a soda.

Taiga was in the same spot still licking away at his wounded tail. Aomine scratched his head. He knew that dogs and cats – and probably other animals – had to wear a cone to keep them from chewing or gnawing or licking at _their_ wounds. If he let the creature continue then that wound would _never_ heal – and Aomine didn’t feel like running around and cleaning up blood.

“Didn’t I see a bag somewhere with stuff for you?” He looked around and spotted a box in the hall. Aomine made to walk over to it when he remembered his food.

He gave it a longing look and weighed his options. It wasn’t like the wound would heal in 20 minutes.

The bluenette went back to the sofa and picked up his bowl and started eating. He channel surfed a bit before landing on a show about numberTigers.

“Eh, why not? It could be fun.”

Taiga’s body shook now and then with pain. He’s hands held his tail as gently as they possibly could while he tried to lick the hurt away. It tasted like copper and he knew he was bleeding. The pain had dulled somewhat, but his tail kept throbbing.

He had come to the conclusion that it wasn’t his scent of safety that had done this to him. It’d been a misunderstanding and he was sure this wouldn’t happen again. His hears flicked to the noise of the TV and he thought could hear a sound he recognized.

It wasn’t a sound he liked.

He carefully raised his tail and crawled to the living room. His ears flattened to his scalp and he sniffed the air nervously.

It sounded like another tiger was in the room with the tall person. Taiga felt uneasy as he crawled closer and closer.

Aomine was glued to the screen; the show showed a clip of a 10Tiger that had gone berserk at a mall in Kyoto. No one had been killed, but the tiger had wounded several people and destroyed property for a value of 400 000 yen. The host of the show explained that the 10Tiger hadn’t been trained properly and that the owner hadn’t bothered to leash her when they went out.

Something moved in the corner of Aomine’s eyes. Taiga was creeping closer, his ears were flat on his head and his tail flicked back and forth behind him. The tiger’s eyes were trained on the screen.

Aomine stamped his foot on the floor and the creature flinched and almost jumped a foot in the air. The bluenette burst out laughing. Once he’d calmed down he turned the volume down and headed for the box.

He rummaged half a minute before finding what he was looking for.

“Oi, Taiga! Here, kitty!” He pulled out the cone and read the instructions. Meh, nothing too complicated.

He bent down and gathered the tiger close to his chest.

Taiga couldn’t believe what was happening. He carefully gripped the fabric of the person’s shirt and buried his head in the crook of the person’s neck. He breathed in the scent and felt himself relax for the first time since he’d first sniffed the cloth he himself was wearing.

The blue-haired boy sort of thought it was cute the way the tiger latched onto him, but the creature’s tail kept leaving bloody smears on his shirt and Aomine found himself getting annoyed. He sat himself down in the sofa and pulled the tiger in his lap.

Taiga purred when a hand scratched his ear. Aomine stopped and picked up the cone.

“You’ll hate me for this.” He said and forced the tiger’s head through the opening.

Taiga, in turn, stiffened when he felt that alien thing restricting his breathing. After a second it loosened a bit, but it was still _there_. He gave the person an unsure look and tried to pry it off.

Aomine slapped at the hands and ungracefully pushed the thing back down on the floor. He returned to the show and pretended that he _didn’t_ own a weird 10Tiger. He had seen a leash and a collar in that box, and he’d seen a tag on the collar with his name on it.

_Taiga Kagami, I belong to Aomine Daiki_. On the other side had been a phone number, an address and a big 10 inside a circle.

He didn’t want this. He absolutely did _not_ want a tiger of any kind! He glowered at the tiger at his feet. It was trying to remove the cone while simultaneously trying to lick at the tail. He pulled out his phone and snapped a picture.

After a few seconds he wrote _See, I told you I couldn’t care for it!_ before hitting the send-button. There, now his parents would realize what a bad idea it had been to get him something like that.

Fuck, he was tired. He glanced at the clock and deemed it late enough for sleep. He turned off the TV and put the bowl in the sink before moving upstairs.

Taiga jerked his head up when the person left him all alone in the darkness. He whimpered and crawled after, but got stopped once he reached the stairs. The cone was in the way and he couldn’t crawl up the steps with it.

He could see in the dark, but everything looked much harsher and scarier. Taiga listened for the sound of the person that mean the world to him, before curling into a little ball and falling asleep right by the staircase.

He would show the person tomorrow how much he loved him and that person would hold him and cuddle him and everything would be fine.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it^^


	3. The Outside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aomine must hide Taiga and Taiga hears a bird.

Aomine tried to bury his head under his pillow when yet another shrill scream erupted outside his bedroom door.  At first it hadn’t been too bad and he’d been able to ignore the little scratches that could be heard, but then the tiger had started to whine, which turned into a wail and then a loud cry.

Now the little monster was screaming its head off outside and the blunette was about ready to explode with anger.

“It’s fucking 2 in the morning! Shut  _up!_ ” He yelled and sat up to glare at the door in the dark. The sound stopped and just when Aomine thought it was over the screaming returned at full force.

“What is  _wrong_  with you?!” He growled and ripped off the cover. “You’re gonna wake the whole neighborhood! And how the hell did you even manage to crawl up the stairs?”

When he opened the door Taiga immediately reached up his arms and his wails turned into a frantic and desperate purring. Aomine rubbed at his eyes with the heel of a palm and stepped outside.

“I’m gonna punish you again if you keep doing shit like this. I swear it’ll be worse than a bit of tail-boiling.” He picked up the tiger by the scruff of its neck and glared at it. Taiga whined in pain but fell silent when he saw his owner’s eyes.

“That’s right … “ The blue-haired boy said with a bit of satisfaction. “If you conti – “

A loud growl interrupted him and he shifted his eyes to the creature’s stomach.

“ … You’re hungry? That’s what all this is about?” He groaned. “You’ve gotta be kidding me ..! You have a bowl downstairs! You can’t have eaten it all in only a handful of hours …”

He sighed loudly and stomped down the stairs and into the kitchen. Taiga was placed next to the bowl and Aomine flicked on the harsh light. He blinked and waited for his eyes to adjust before looking down at the pathetic tiger.

The bluenette scowled and almost smacked himself in the face. Taiga’s cone had made it impossible for him to eat and all the food had been pushed around and onto the floor. The tiger must be starving.

“Well, no wonder you cried. Fuck, I guess I only have myself to blame.” He bent down and removed the plastic collar before taking a seat on the hard floor. He scooped up some of the dry food bits in his hand and pulled the tiger to him.

Taiga crawled up in his lap but Aomine was too tired to care. It was late … or early … whatever … and he just wanted to go back to his bed and sleep for another ten hours. The tiger made a sound in his throat and the bluenette picked out a piece of food and fed it to him.

Taiga munched happily and aimed to purr as loudly as he possibly could. His tail, still hurting, wrapped around the arm not feeding him.

This was how it was supposed to be. This was  _home_  and _safety_  and  _love_.   

*

A month went by and Aomine had skillfully avoided bringing any friends with him back home. He was still a bit ashamed over the tiger and he didn’t know what the others would think when they saw him. Hell, he hadn’t even  _told_  anyone about his new pet yet.

Taiga had grown noticeably and he’d even learnt to walk by himself. The bluenette dreaded the day he’d have to teach the thing how to talk.

“–unless you don’t want to.” Aomine blinked several times and looked down at Kuroko.

“Huh? Oh, sure, whatever.” He said with a shrug. It was a Friday and they were both walking home from school. The shorter boy smiled and Aomine frowned inside.

“Great, Aomine-kun. I was afraid that I’d done something to make you angry. Is it okay if I come by at 6?”

“… Wait, what?”  _Shit, what had he agreed to?_

“Staying the weekend at your place? Did you even listen?”

 “Um, err, yeah, 6 sounds good. I’ll, uhh, I’ll order a pizza or something.”  _Fuck._  He would have to hide the thing and – … But for three days? Maybe if he hid it in the basement. That could work … But what if the screaming started again? Wait, hadn’t he seen a muzzle in the box?

“–seem really out of it. Are you okay?”

“What? Oh, yeah, nothing to worry about. Just … There’s a lot of stuff on my mind right now, with my parents moving and all that.”

Kuroko gave him an unreadable look but let it go.

*

Taiga’s tail had healed nicely and the fur had grown back. Now he sat by the door and waited for his owner to come home. There wasn’t much else he could do really; the taller boy had packed away all his toys and there was nothing he could play with.

… Except his tail, but even  _that_ got repetitive and boring after a while.

His bowl was empty and the water tasted stale. He got up and slowly made his way to the door until he could touch the wood. His ear twitched and he strained to hear something from the outside.

He heard voices and cars and –

His pupils dilated and he held his breath.

A little  _chirp_  made his tails swish back and forth in excitement. Instincts whispered that the sound belonged to a potential prey.

Taiga flexed his claws and pressed an ear to the door to hear it better.

He wondered what it looked like; his owner never let him outside and always kept the windows covered. Once, a few days back, he’d almost escaped through one of the giant windows leading out on the porch, but he’d been caught and gotten several harsh slaps in his face as punishment.

The chirp returned and he made a sound – a sort of chattering – that he didn’t know he could make. He did it again and again and realized that the sound was for luring prey closer to him.

He blinked surprised and stopped. That had been … He’d been in a kind of trance and the only thing in his thoughts had been that chirping sound. Everything around him had disappeared.

That had been  _weird_.

Taiga shook his head and moved back a few paces and sat down.

He didn’t know how many hours or minutes passed by until he heard that familiar voice getting closer and closer.

*

Aomine muttered under his breath and pulled out the key from his bag. He needed to hide the stupid creature, and hide it  _well,_  because he did  _not_ want to show Kuroko what a sick mother and father he had that’d gotten him a human look-a-like tiger.

He threw the door open and realized too late that Taiga had been waiting on the other side. A loud thud had him wince and he quickly slipped inside before any outsiders could get a glimpse of the 10Tiger.

“Idiot…” He said and grabbed hold of the little tiger. He had his eyes squeezed shut and red liquid flowed from his nose. “You should know by now that you can’t wait so close to the door. Tch, you’re getting blood all over the floor!”

Taiga sniffled and cracked an eye open. Aomine grabbed a few paper towels and wiped non to gently at the bloody mess all the while muttering words he had yet to understand.

Taiga always managed to make his owner angry, despite trying so hard to please him …

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter^^


	4. Locked inside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aomine tries to hide Taiga.

“You little shit …” Aomine bit out and tried to pry the tiny claws from his sleeve. Taiga whined in his throat and tears streamed down his reddened cheeks. “For fuck’s sake! You only need to stay down here for a few days! Let me go, dammit!”

The basement was cold and dank and it smelled weird and it was _dark_. The little tiger’s body shook in fear and he tried desperately to convey his displeasure to his owner. Something told him that if he let go he’d find himself all alone in an unknown and frightening place.

Taiga’s purring hitched and he frantically babbled unintelligible words while letting his claws sink deeper into the red material. Panic gripped his heart and – yet again – he couldn’t comprehend _why_ his owner would do something like this to him.  

The instincts swirling inside him, instincts Taiga trusted more than anything else, kept telling him to do one thing, but everything he did just seemed to be the _wrong_ kind of _thing._ The red tiger didn’t know how many times he had gone over his instincts trying to find the faulty information that kept him on his owner’s bad side. Purring meant happiness and content, but it could also mean harmlessness and a way to show that one wasn’t dangerous. Yet, whenever he did this, the blue-haired person either ignored him or inflicted more pain on his body. He had tried countless sounds for conveying unhappiness about certain situations, he had curved the tip of his tail in happiness to reassure his owner that Taiga always forgave him, and he made sure to smile until his whole face hurt – just to show that he _still_ loved this person.  But now, down in the dark basement – clinging to the only family he had ever known – Taiga began to doubt these instincts of his.

“If you don’t let go right now I’ll punish you again!” Aomine growled low and pinched one of the tiger’s tiger ears before yanking it hard. Taiga’s brain was still in the process of trying to decipher the word _punish_ –he knew that that word meant something unpleasant – and yelped loudly at the unexpected pain. His hands let go automatically and tried instead to remove whatever it was that was hurt him.

Aomine wasted no time in shoving the creature away. He took three steps at a time up the gangly staircase – Taiga’s pitiful cries behind him – and slammed the door shut once he was out. He used the old key and locked the door before putting his ear to the wood and listening.

He could hardly hear the wailing and he could always tell Tetsu that it only was the old water-pipes moaning and creaking. He’d placed a litter-box down there along with a bowl of dry-food and a huge pot with water. It should be enough for the weekend.

*

Taiga cried out at the retreating back and clumsily got up from the floor. With unsteady steps he wobbled to the first step of the staircase and placed his palms on it for support. The door up above closed and plunged the room in total darkness. The tiger cried out again and attempted to lift a leg to climb up, but in his panicked state he was too careless and lost his footing and toppled backwards.

The concrete floor was cold and it smelled like mold and dirt. Taiga rolled onto his stomach and was about to get up again and try anew, but a cold gust of wind had him frozen on the spot. He held his breath and stared down at the floor, not daring to lift his eyes to look around. His heart hammered and blood rushed in his ears. He slowly curled his tail around himself and a low purring erupted against his will.

_I’m not dangerous … I’m harmless … Don’t hurt me …_

He swallowed and, after a full minute, slowly lifted his head. Usually he would be able to see much better by now in the dark, but for some reason it stayed almost pitch-black; he could only make out contours and other vague things in the gray darkness that surrounded him.

Another draft of cold air caressed his skin, making him shiver, and he gripped his tail and hugged it hard against his chest.

Shadows moved in the corners of his eyes, but whenever he whipped his head around there was nothing there. The purring hitched and Taiga felt new tears burn their way down his cheeks.

*

The doorbell rang and Aomine grinned to himself; Tetsu was _always_ on time – never too early and never too late. He himself, on the other hand, didn’t really care about being punctual. If the people really wanted to meet up with him, then they’d also wait if he was late.

He opened the door and was greeted by the shorter boy’s cool gaze.

“Hello, Aomine-kun.” Kuroko said and held up a bag of oranges. “My mom says that you’re probably going to neglect eating the necessary vitamins your body needs, so she wanted me to give you these.”

“Uhh, thank you?”

“You are welcome.”

Aomine took the fruit and stepped aside. Kuroko walked in with a quiet _excuse me for intruding_ and removed his jacked before neatly placing his shoes on the shoe-racket.

  
An hour later found them on the couch in the living room playing _War Cry 3_ , half-empty bags of snacks covered the floor and several empty soda cans littered the coffee table. Kuroko was positively a beast when it came to slaughtering enemies with an axe and a metal pipe. Aomine tried to keep up, but somehow he was always the one being targeted by the enemy-team and the shorter boy had to go back and save him again and again. It was annoying and the taller boy had started to swear and growl under his breath.

“Maybe we should stop before you rage-quit, Aomine-kun.” Kuroko said and paused the game with a press of his thumb. The other boy turned away from the screen and angrily waved a hand at the TV, frustration and fury clearly visible on his face.

“Like hell I will! Un-pause the game already and let me kill those fuckers! I know I can do it!”

“No, you suck at hand-to-hand combat and I’m starting to get tired of saving your ass all the time.”

Aomine sputtered and felt his face heat. “I–I don’t suck!” He half-shouted in indignation. Kuroko put down his control and regarded Aomine with unreadable eyes.

“… Actually, you _do_. I’m starting to get hungry, by the way, and since this is your house now you’ll have to cook. Make something with coconut milk and chicken.”  

“Tch, demanding little shit.” The taller boy muttered. Kuroko gave him a small smile that was both shy and beaming at the same time.

“Only when I know I’m going to get what I want.”

*

Taiga was already on the fifth step and he had no intention of stopping until he reached the top. Something had creaked in the darkest corner of the room and Taiga had thrown himself off the floor without a second thought. He had unsheathed his claws and pulled himself up one step at a time, the only thought occupying his mind was that he needed to get away to safety.

The creaking turned into a clanking and the little tiger forced his body to move faster up the wooden staircase. He just needed to reach the door and then he’d be able to call out to his owner for help.

Taiga sniffled and wiped away snot with the back of a hand. He was sure that the other person would come and get him.

He was _sure._

*

Kuroko stopped chewing and looked to the hallway, curiosity written on his face.

“Did you hear something?” He asked and gave Aomine a look. The other boy choked on his food and coughed several times before wheezing:

“W–what? I didn’t hear anything! What?” Kuroko furrowed his brow.

“You are acting very suspicious. Are you hiding something?”

_Trust Tetsu to be both blunt_ and _perceptive_ , Aomine thought bitterly while still hacking up bits of rice and fried chicken from his lungs. He was about to defend his behavior, when a high-pitched wail cut him off. The boy on the other side of the table widened his eyes and turned his head back to the hallway.

“… Aomine-kun?”

“Uh, it’s not what it sounds like!”

“Is that a child? Have you locked a _child_ in your basement?” Kuroko’s tone was both accusing and disbelieving.

“I–it’s _really_ not what it sounds like!” Shit, he was going to strangle that little thing when he got his hands on it! “Listen,” he hurriedly began when the other boy rose from his chair. “I need to tell you something … It’s like this; my mom and dad got me a pet ‘cause they didn’t want me to feel all alone or something like that…”

“Go on.”

“Yeah, they got me one of those tigers you can buy – NumberTigers or whatever – and it’s just really, _really_ freaky and I’ve kept it a secret for a month.”  There, he had said it. Kuroko blinked and sat down again.

“A tiger?”

“A 10Tiger. It looks like a human, but it got tiger ears, claws and a tail. I didn’t want it, but apparently it cost a lot of money and my mom wouldn’t let me have it put down.” He dragged a hand through his hair and scratched the back of his head. “I think it’s 2 months old and it’ll start school once it turns 16 months old. Tetsu, it’ll go to school with me! My reputation will be ruined!”

“… You’re talking about those tigers that are popular in Tokyo right now? Those genetically modified pets that walk around in a leash that we have seen on TV?” It was like the other boy had a hard time understanding words and Aomine sighed loudly and glared.

“ _Yes._ I locked it in the basement in hope of keeping it hidden from you. I don’t want you to think that I’m some kind of sicko…” Aomine trailed off and put his arms on the table and buried his face in them. A few seconds ticked by and the other boy said:

“Can we look at it? I’ve never seen one up close.” Aomine raised his head and looked at the basement door. As if on cue, small scratches were heard and another cry vibrated through the wooden surface. A second loud sigh wracked Aomine’s frame and he forced himself up from the chair.

“I guess, if you really want to. But I’ll warn you; it looks like a _kid.”_

*

Taiga quieted down when he heard voices moving closer on the other side. The lock jingled and within moments bright light flooded the dark room and blinded the tiger temporarily.

“There you have it.” A voice said, edging on boredom. Taiga recognized it immediately and threw himself out the door and clung to a leg of his owner. A relieved whimper escaped him and he burrowed his head in the fabric of the pants.

“That’s …“ Another voice began that Taiga didn’t know. A second person with pale blue hair crouched down and peered at him. The tiger warily turned his head and looked at the other person, suspiciousness making him flatten the ears on top of his head. “That’s really unsettling.”

“Right? It keeps clinging to me and it refuses to listen to me!”

“Maybe you just suck at teaching, Aomine-kun?”

“… It doesn’t know how to talk yet, so I’m guessing that’s why it won’t do what I tell it to do. I have to teach it eventually.”

“How to talk?”

“Mhm.”

Taiga listened to the voices, but paid them no heed since they didn’t sound angry. He was about to lift his upper lip in a small snarl to the crouching person, when he thought better of it.

What if this person … would want to cuddle and pet him? Taiga widened his eyes slightly at the thought and locked eyes with the shorter person.  Carefully, and ever so slowly, he let go of his owner and – making sure that his tail was swishing happily – made his short way over to the blue-haired individual.

*

Kuroko made a sound in the back of his throat and got up from the floor before the creature could grab hold of him. Next to him Aomine gave a big grin, which was really more of a smirk, and said:

“What, Tetsu, you scared?” Kuroko pinned him with a glare.

“I just find it creepy. That is _all_.” He took a step back when he saw the tiger getting a bit too close for comfort. It misjudged the distance and fell forward when Kuroko moved away.

“It is not very smart, is it?” If anything Kuroko sounded amused, but there was a tension in his eyes that Aomine had a hard time understanding.

The creature on the floor whined and Kuroko – looking almost uneasy – took another step back.

“Can we keep it in the basement?” He asked quietly. Aomine shrugged a shoulder.

“Sure, that was the plan, anyway.” He bent down and swiped the tiger off the floor.

*

Taiga realized too late that he was being carried back down the staircase leading to the dark basement. He clung to his owner and wrapped his tail around them both, his body shivering and tiny claws imbedded in the soft fabric under him.

Maybe this was for the best ... He had probably done something wrong again and this was his punishment.

He should just _accept it_. There was obviously something wrong with him if he couldn’t even make his only family happy. Taiga came to the conclusion that his instincts were not to be trusted anymore. Purring didn’t work. Smiling didn’t work. Trying to cuddle, swishing his tail in happiness, following his owner around and trying to keep him company … _Nothing worked_.

Maybe he should just … stop.

*

The little tiger was placed on the floor with ease and Aomine was a bit surprised at the exhaustion that seemed to suddenly be present in the tiny body. He rose and started climbing the stairs, but Taiga, who had made such a ruckus just a couple of hours earlier, didn’t even acknowledge that Aomine was about to lock him inside once more.  

The blue-haired boy stopped halfway up and turned around. The tiger still sat where he had been placed, back a bit hunched and tail lying flat and unmoving on the dank floor.

“… Tch.” He took the last steps in three strides, closed the door and locked it.

The room was plunged in darkness for the second time that day.

Taiga hugged his tail and closed his eyes tightly.

*

It was roughly a month later when Taiga showed the first signs of understanding words. Aomine was contemplating whether to buy more tiger food or to get the fourth installation of the _War Cry_ -saga, when a sound had him jumping a foot off the floor.  

“Ickot!” Aomine glared at the creature once his heart had calmed down. The tiger looked back with indifferent eyes and said it again. “Ickot!”

“…What?” The blue-haired boy bit out and silently decided that he wouldn’t care if the tiger went hungry or not.

“Ickiot!”

Aomine raised an eyebrow. That had almost sounded like _idiot._ An idea formed and he took out his cellphone.

“Oi, creature, say _idiot._ ” He started the camera and plopped down on the floor. “Come on, _iii-diii-ot.”_

The tiger flicked his tail and sat down in front of his owner.

“Ickio?” He said and tilted his head to the side. Aomine repeated the word again and again, and the tiger kept saying the word wrong over and over.

“Shit, you’re such a dumbass. Okay, here, say _cock._ Come on, _co-ck!_ ”

“Coo?”

“ _Cock.”_

“Coh!”

Aomine grumbled and turned off the device. “Maybe next time…”

*

An hour later the doorbell rang and Aomine glanced at the clock. It was almost 2 and he hadn’t invited anyone today, seeing how he still kept the tiger a secret from most of his friends. He reluctantly got off the couch and made his way over to the front door and opened it.

“I’m sorry, Aomine-kun!” Was the first thing Kuroko said. Next to him stood Akashi and behind them was Kise with a beaming smile. It was quite the mixture of Miracles.

“Uh, Tetsu, do I have to kill you now?” Aomine asked slowly and fixed his eyes on the shortest boy.

“I rather not you do that. I accidentally told Kise about your pet, and Akashi was eavesdropping–“

“I did _no_ such thing!”

“–and it resulted in them learning about the 10Tiger. I apologize.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter :3


	5. Akashi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taiga meets Akashi, Aomine is an ass.

Taiga swiveled his ears around anxiously when new voices drifted from the hallway. He recognized one voice – the short person that had visited several weeks ago, but the other voices put him on edge.  His nose twitched and he was about to sniff the air for clues on whom these people were, but he slapped a hand over his face and shook his head.

Instincts were _bad_ ; he should not do what his body and mind told him to.

The voices grew louder and Taiga got up from the floor and padded out of the living room, through the kitchen, and made a sharp turn and ducked inside the make-shift library. The thick carpet and the heavy curtains, along with the many shelves of books, kept most of the noise out and the little tiger let himself relax for a moment.

He knew that his owner was called Aomine or Daiki. It was confusing, but the tall person seemed to answer to both. Although, sometimes a shrill voice would scream from a small box and Taiga would make out the word _daishaaan_   – whatever _that_ meant.

He heard some shuffling if he concentrated hard enough, and – after pushing the door closed – ventured deeper into the room when the voices grew a bit too close for comfort.

*

Akashi Seijuro hadn’t really _eavesdropped –_ it was such an accusing word _–_ but he hadn’t exactly announced his presence _either_ when he overheard Tetsuya and Ryouta talking. The phrase _all right, but do not tell anyone about this_ had peaked his interest and the red-head had stopped himself from interrupting whatever it was they were whispering about inside the empty classroom.

Tetsuyas softly spoken words of _numbertigers_ and _pets_ and _Aomine-kun will murder me, do you understand? In my sleep, with a basketball!_ had Akashi almost spellbound. He had seen these tigers in magazines and on the TV, but despite inquiring his father to get him one, he had always been told they were far too expensive. And that – now when he thought about it – had been complete bullshit seeing how _Daiki’s_ family had been able to afford one. 

“Aren’t you going to invite us in?” He asked casually and tried discreetly to peer behind Aomine’s large frame.

“I didn’t invite you in the first place, so I don’t really – Hey!” Akashi slipped by the blue-haired boy and looked around expectantly.

“Where is it?”

Aomine grumbled and was about to grab the smaller male by the scruff of his neck and drag him outside, but Kise threw an arm around his shoulder and ushered them all _inside_ instead. Kuroko looked a bit wary, but he gave a small, tight smile and followed.  

*

_“I swear it was here just a moment ago! Dammit, you scared him away!”_

_“Considering you’ve kept him away from people I’m not surprised he took off!”_

_“Shut up, Kise! No one asked for your opinion!”_

_“Kurokocchi, Aominecchi is mean to me!”_

Taiga worried his lower lip and quietly made his way over to the heavy drapes by the window. He couldn’t understand what the people outside the door talked about, but he recognized his owner’s frustrated tone and thought it’d be best to hide for a while. Tiny hands grabbed the fabric and he carefully stepped behind the curtain.

He had barely gotten his tail hidden when the door opened.

*

 

”Maybe we should split up?” Kise asked as Aomine opened the door to the small library. “I mean, it’s not like he’s dangerous, right? And we’d find him quicker!” The taller boy chewed his bottom lip for a second before letting go of the door handle.

“Yeah, sure – whatever. Tetsu, you can look in my room and the rest of the rooms upstairs–“

“But I wanna look in Aominecchi’s room!”

“Shut up, Kise! I don’t trust you. You can look in the living room, I’ll check the kitchen and–”

“And I’ll check the library?” Akashi interrupted. Aomine nodded.

“Knock yourself out. Oh, his name is Taiga, by the way. Yes, really original, _I know_ , but I wasn’t the one who named him.”

*

Taiga held his breath and tried to keep his tail from swishing. A new scent, accompanied by a set of soft footsteps, entered the room and the tiger pressed himself closer to the wall behind him. The person moved around quietly, occasionally calling _Taiga?_ with a gentle voice .

The person sounded kind, but Taiga wouldn’t let himself be fooled and instead closed his eyes in concentration and tried to follow their movements.

There was some rustling, some shuffling, and then, to the tiger’s relief, the door opened again and closed.

Taiga exhaled audibly and sniffed the air. The scent was still there, but that was to be expected. His extended spine flicked back and forth and he took another deep breath. The short person he’d met had smelled like fear and uneasiness, something Taiga hadn’t been able to understand – he still didn’t – but _this_ smell, this _scent_ , was something completely different.

Taiga pulled away the heavy curtain and froze.

*

Aomine bent down and checked under the table. No tiger there. It would probably be a bit silly to scowl, but he just wanted to find the pest and get it over with.

A sigh escaped his lips and he rose from the floor and dusted of his pants. He hadn’t really connected the dots that when you live alone, you also have to _clean._

Aomine glared at the floor.

There really was a lot of dust there, and tiger fur. Lots and lots of tiger fur.

“As soon as he learns to walk without falling over, I’ll have him clean up after himself,” he grumbled and plucked a tuft of hair from his hand. It wasn’t like there was a law against using 10Tigers for cleaning, right? And if the little shit wanted to eat, then he’d just have to work for it. Like _normal_ people.

It was a brilliant plan.     

Aomine was about to turn around and exit the kitchen when he noticed that it was unusually dark in there. In fact, the whole house had gotten surprisingly dark in just a handful of minutes.

Almost as if on cue, the sky lit up and ear deafening thunder rattled the windows.

*

Akashi had known the tiger had been in the room from the moment he’d laid eyes upon the drapes. Really, it was a moot point trying to hide behind something if your feet still showed. Nonetheless, he decided to let the little creature get used to his presence before moving in for the kill.

He opened the door, made a point of shuffling his feet, and closed it. The red-head evened out his breathing and very carefully turned around so he was facing the window where the tiger hid himself.

He heard Taiga exhale loudly and wondered idly if the tiger had held his breath all this time Akashi had been in the room. Then … the curtains moved a bit, and he could hear the tiger sniffing the air.

Akashi gave a small smile and crouched down. A few heartbeats later Taiga pulled away the drapes and Akashi finally got to see the 10Tiger. 

Taiga flattened his ears and was about to show his fangs, but remembered that Aomine didn’t like it when he did such things. His owner had pulled his tail enough times to beat it into his head that he was _not_ to behave that way, and with no other option left he let that hateful purr erupt from his throat.

_I’m not dangerous please don’t hurt me I won’t harm you please please not dangerous …_

Taiga took a tentative step forward, then another and another until there was only a few feet of space between them.  The person held out a hand and Taiga’s purr hitched. Usually, when his owner held out a hand, it mean that he’d done something bad and was about to get punished.

“It’s okay, Taiga.” The person said. When Taiga looked up he could see kind eyes and a gentle smile.

_Aomine_ never smiled at him. Or when he _did_ smile, it was usually tight and often it looked like he was in pain.

The short person a few weeks back had moved away when Taiga had tried to approach them, but this person seemed to want to be approached. Maybe, if he was careful and cautious and didn’t move to quickly then –

The room lit up in a flash and the outside roared with a sound Taiga had never heard before.    
  
  
Akashi lost his balance when the little bundle dashed into his arms.

“I’m guessing this is your first thunderstorm,” the red-head mused and cradled the creature to his chest. Taiga burrowed his head as much as possible in the soft material of Akashi’s shirt and let out a pitiful sob.

Here, in this room, hidden away from judgmental family members and prying classmates, he could afford to chuckle and smile and cuddle for just a few precious moments.

Another ear deafening rumble roared from the sky and Taiga’s sobs turned into muffled screams. His tail tried to curl around them both.

“Hey, hey, come on now! You’re safe here,” The 10Tiger pushed his nose deeper into the fabric and Akashi had to bite back a laugh.

“Ickio…”

“Hm, what was that?”

Taiga sniffled and moved his head back and forth and Akashi realized that the front of his shirt was soaking wet with tiger snot.

_Disgusting_ , he thought, but considering the situation it became slightly more acceptable. And Taiga was cute like this, all scared and helpless.

He wanted a numberTiger of his own.

  
The door to the small library opened and Aomine’s head came into view.

“Oh, you found him.” The taller boy drawled and let his gaze fall upon the little creature still clutching the red-head like his life depended on it.

Akashi wiped the smile from his face and rose up from the floor, tiger still secured in his arms. He made to move past Aomine, but the bluenett held out a hand.

“Gimme.” He said. Akashi unconsciously tightened his arms around Taiga.

“… Why?”

“What do you mean _why_? Just, give it to me! I’m gonna show Kise so I can kick him out of my house!”

Aomine shot out a hand and grabbed Taiga by the scruff of his neck and pulled. The little tiger yelped and buried his claws deeper in Akashi’s shirt.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, you little bitch!” Aomine growled. “Let go, dammit!” He roughly grabbed hold of the tiny arms and yanked the claws, one by one, from the now damaged shirt. The fear Akashi saw in Taiga’s eyes told him that Aomine was a shitty owner.

“You shouldn’t be so rough with him.”

“And you shouldn’t tell others how to treat their pets. He’s just a dumb animal! Why do you care?”

“One shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds them, but sometimes the hand that feeds deserves to be bit.” With that Akashi pushed past the taller basketball player and headed for the living room.

Aomine glared after the shorter teen. What the fuck had that been all about?

Taiga whined and tried to pry away the fingers holding his neck, but the bluenett just shook him until he stopped.

“If you don’t stop with your shit I’ll force you to spend the night outside.”

*

 

“Aominecchi, you’re a papa!”

“I’m not a fucking papa!”

“He even looks like you!”

“He does _not_!”

Taiga’s ears kept flicking back and forth trying to follow the shrill voices arguing over his head. Once his owner had yanked him from the kind person with red hair he’d been dumped in the lap of a stranger with blond hair. This new stranger, Taiga thought he’d heard his owner call him Shaddabkisse, kept moving his arms against his will and shrieked in his ears. It was highly uncomfortable and stressing trying to understand this person.

“He’s so creepily adorable! With his widdle paws and widdle ears and widdle tail and–“

“Shut up, Kise! _We get it_.”  

“Don’t be such a bore, Aominecchi!”

Taiga tried to pull his limbs away but this person had a vice-like grip on him. He wanted to go back and hide his face in the other person’s chest and just disappear from this ruckus around him. Aomine, seated next to Shaddabkisse on the living room couch, didn’t even spare him a second glance when he whined and tried to reach for him.    

Outside the rain fell even harder.

*

Akashi felt a pang of anger when he watched the little tiger being manhandled between the two basketball players. Taiga looked absolutely distraught and the way he kept looking at Daiki for help just made the whole scenario worse. Especially since Daiki didn’t give a damn about Taiga.

“Daiki,” he said and rose from the armchair he was seated in. “I will be taking my leave now.”

“Seriously? There’s a storm raging outside. Just wait and see if it’ll let up.” As the blue-haired boy said this Taiga had managed to get one of his arms free and was reaching for Daiki. Daiki, in turn, saw this and leaned away from it. Akashi seethed on the inside. On the outside he made a gesture and added:

“I have matters I need to discuss with my father.” At the sound of his voice Taiga turned his big, red innocent eyes on him and Akashi guessed it would be increasingly harder for him to leave if he continued to watch the way he was treated by Daiki. “I doubt a little rain would hurt me.”

“But you’d get wet.” Daiki insisted.

“As do people who showers.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Yes it does. Good bye, Daiki.” He nodded at Ryouta and Tetsuya before putting on his shoes and stepping outside in the rain.

*

It didn’t take long for Kise and Kuroko to leave after Akashi. Mostly it was because Aomine got fed up with Kise’s annoying voice and decided to kick them both out in the rain, but also because Akashi’s attitude had hit a nerve in him. Who was that short little bastard to criticize his way of _raising_ Taiga? Taiga was, when it all came down to it, just a humanoid tiger that happened to be a bit more coherent than other animals.

_A bit more_ might’ve been an understatement, but Taiga was still a pet and pets weren’t people. Pets were pets and should be treated like pets.

Somewhere, in the back of his mind, a quiet voice whispered that it probably wasn’t okay to kick or boil or hit any kinds of children, especially those who resembled humans so much that they got called _humanoid_. 

 Aomine raked a hand through his hair and scratched his scalp. He wasn’t feeling guilty for his treatment of Taiga, dammit. It was just punishment.

“You’re supposed to punish those who don’t follow the rules.” He muttered, mostly to reassure himself.  

… But Taiga hadn’t really been breaking any rules when he’d almost boiled the little tiger’s tail in hot water, had he?

Aomine sighed loudly, stretched out on his back on the couch and threw an arm over his eyes. He let his other arm fall down to touch the floor, but instead it touched the soft fur of one of Taiga’s ears. The Ace gingerly sat up again and peered down at the little tiger. Taiga had curled up against the couch and was watching the hand touching his ear.

“Your fur is really soft, you know that?”

Taiga’s breath hitched and he stayed perfectly still.

*

The little 10Tiger rubbed his stomach when another painful stab of hunger reminded him that his bowl was still empty and yet to be filled. His owner, humming and sounding genuinely happy for once, was standing in front of the stove and something smelled really, really good. Saliva welled up under the little tiger’s tongue and he almost drooled on himself when another whiff of that wonderful scent came his way.

He contemplated going in and begging for a taste; usually Aomine – Daiki? – would be in a foul mood, but Taiga couldn’t smell any anger in the air – only the wonderful smell of food and, if no taste was granted, then at least his owner maybe would realize that he had forgotten to feed him.

Taiga took a cautious step inside the huge kitchen and wobbled over to where the taller boy stood. Aomine made no indication that he’d heard the tiger enter so the little redhead reached out a hand and tugged at the loose material of the blue-haired boy’s pants.

“Ickio?” It came out softer than Taiga had intended and he tugged at the pants again when Aomine didn’t acknowledge him. “Ickio?” He yanked a bit harder using his claws to get a better grip. Angry blue eyes glared down at him before his owner stepped outside of his reach.

Taiga huffed, a bit offended and upset, and chewed on his bottom lip.

“ _Ickio!_ ” He repeated for a third time with extra emphasis on the word. His tail swished in annoyance behind him and since his owner didn’t seem to be angry he got a little bit bolder.

Maybe he’d finally succeeded in getting the most important person in the world to him to like him?

 …Or at least _tolerate_ him.

Taiga eyed the pants, flexed his claws, bent his knees and jumped.

 *

Aomine was in the middle of peeling another half-frozen shrimp when he yet again was reminded that the little pest still hadn’t vanished into thin air. Maybe he could leave the front door wide open and wait for Taiga to just wander outside? Then he could just close the door and wait for the tiger to get hit by a car or taken by a creep or something.

The last thought had him frowning; would he really be okay with some perv taking advantage of a kid? Taiga, albeit being a 10Tiger, was still very much like a human kid – sort of, anyway. Come to think of it, Aomine reached for another shrimp, short of beating your NumberTiger half to death, were there even any laws protecting them from sexual abuse? Or prostitution? Or sexual prostitu–

… Wait, never mind.  

He was seconds away from dumping the shrimps onto a frying pan when twenty sets of ouch-fuck-you-little-fucker sharp claws imbedded themselves in the tender flesh just underneath his ass.    

The pride of Teiko yelped, like a fucking possessed banshee, and Taiga scrambled off and away as fast as his little legs could carry him. The bowl of shrimps laid upside-down on the floor.

“I’m gonna skin you alive, you fucking piece of shit!”

Fuck, he swore could feel blood trickle down the backside of his legs.

*

The light flickered once, twice, before the house was plunged into darkness. Aomine glanced out the kitchen window just in time to see the whole neighborhood follow suit.

“Looks like I wouldn’t get to eat those shrimps anyway…”

Down on the floor, by his feet, Taiga whimpered and hugged his tail to his chest. Aomine was still surprised that Taiga had dared return to his side after the whole claw-incident.

“Hey,” he said and gave the tiger a nudge with his foot. “Stop doing that. With the tail.” Taiga made a little noise at the back of his throat and gave Aomine a confused stare.  

“The _hugging thing_.”  The blue haired boy pushed harder with his foot until the little redhead showed obvious discomfort and shifted away, yet he kept a firm hold of his tail. It irritated Aomine beyond words and the thought of dragging the little pest outside and leaving him in the rain was really tempting.

Stuff like that built character, right? Wasn’t Taiga supposed to be a strong, fearless tiger bred from the Siberian tigers from the wilderness of Russia? He should be able to put up with a little cold rain. Aomine wouldn’t even leave him out _that_ long … Just for a couple of minutes.

 “If you don’t let go of your tail, I’ll tie you up outside within the hour.”

Taiga made no sign that he had understood anything of what Aomine just had threatened with.

“Oi, shithead, you’re getting on my nerves. Stop feeling your tail up or I’ll leave you outside the whole night.”

*

When his owner grabbed him and hugged him to his chest, with _both_ hands, Taiga was sure that he was dreaming. He burrowed his face in the crook of Aomine’s neck, he flexed his claws just a tiny bit in the shirt under his hands and he curled his tail around them both.

He had been positive that he would’ve been punished for his actions earlier in the kitchen.

“That’s right, just relax…” Aomine’s voice was calm and Taiga sighed happily. He heard some rustling and then a hand was poking around his neck. Taiga turned his head to see what was going on and his owner placed something around his throat. It was a little too restricting so the tiger tugged at it with a hand. The blue-haired boy shushed him and gently lowered the limb and tucked his head back against his neck.

“It’s all right, it’s all right… Can’t have you fighting when I throw you out on the porch…”

*

Akashi’s hair was still damp when he entered his father’s office. The room was dark except for a flashlight that kept moving around.

“Seijuro, do you need something?” His father sounded aggravated as he rummaged through cabinets and drawers pulling out papers and document before letting them fall to the floor.

Akashi was mildly surprised at his father’s behavior.

“You seem to be in a hurry, father. Is something the matter?” He kept his voice neutral, void of any emotions. 

“I need to head back to my city office.”

“Why?” Akashi asked and slowly followed his father around the room.

“Seijuro, I don’t have time right now.” Another drawer was opened and had its contents strewn across the floor.

“I need to talk to you about something.” He just needed to get his father so stressed that he’d agree to almost anything just to be left alone. It had worked before, Akashi’s favorite horse was a purebred black Arabian named Jewel. His second favorite horse was also a purebred Arabian.

“I’m sure it could wait. _Where did I put those damned files?”_

“I didn’t score one hundred percent on my last test. I’m afraid that my grades are falling. Also, I think one of the horses might be sick, should I ask Sato-san if he could come to check on the horse tomorrow? ”

“What? Yes, that’s–that’s good, but–“

“I have a game in two weeks; should I expect you to come or will you be absent like usual? Mother’s birthday is coming up and Narita-san and the others from the staff wanted to know if we’re visiting her grave before noon or in the evening.” 

“That is– Please, Seijuro, I don’t have time–“

“For how long do you think this blackout will last? Your clients can’t be very happy about this. _Especially_ Yamamoto-san.”

“You’re being very talkative today, Seijuro. Tell me what you want.”

“I want to buy a 10Tiger.”

“I told you that I won’t allow a NumberTiger in this household.”

“What papers are you looking for?”

“Yamamoto-san’s contract.” Judging by his father’s appearance– wrinkled shirt, shoes that didn’t match – time was not on his side today.

“Ah. Didn’t you leave them downstairs, on the kitchen table?”

“I did?”

“I’m positive.”

His father straightened up and hurried down to the kitchen. Akashi trailed after.

“Or maybe it was in the study, or the living room perhaps?”

“If you know something, Sejuro, then tell me.” Frustration, defeat, anger … It was music to the redhead.

“I want a tiger.”

“I told you–“

Akashi grinned behind his father’s back. It was time to move in for the kill.

“Yamamoto-san is waiting. Your shoes don’t match and your suit is full of wrinkles. I doubt any of your clients would appreciate this new look you’ve got going on.”

His father turned around and resignation was written all over his face.

“Fine, _fine._ What does it cost? Just tell me if you know where those papers are.”

_Success._

*

Taiga slammed his fists again and again against the large glass doors on the porch and _screamed._ Wind and cold rain whipped around his trembling body and Aomine, warm and dry on the other side of the glass, regarded him with bored eyes. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it^^

**Author's Note:**

> So, here was the first chapter! :D Hope you enjoyed it! It'll be m/m later on, I just haven't decided which pairings yet! :3 Oh, I'm gonna post this on my tumblr also with the same name (evership) if anyone's interested!^^ Take care!


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